State investigating Burlington kitchen remodeling company

By Anna Johnson / Times-News

Published: Monday, June 23, 2014 at 06:05 PM.

A Burlington kitchen remodeling company has reportedly left dozens across the Triangle and Triad high and dry.

American Kitchen Corp. closed last week, prompting an investigation by the N.C. Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division and the Better Business Bureau, and many customers are reporting unfinished kitchens despite paying the Burlington business upfront.

PAUL AND FRANCES Tausch first heard about American Kitchen when they received an advertisement in the mail in March.

“We checked them out,” Paul said. “The BBB had given them a good rating, (and) I didn’t see any complaints at the time. We decided we would have them give us an estimate.”

The Wake Forest couple met with company representatives and an engineer, and ultimately paid them a little more than $12,000 to get the business started on a remodeled kitchen, he said.

Every time the couple wanted to check on a price or look at the competition, American Kitchen was able to offer a sale or additional discount, they said.

“We were always the ones contacting them,” Frances said. “We never heard from them. We were always the ones initiating the conversation.”

They were told work would begin tentatively at the end of May, and the couple began removing some of the cabinets, hoping to use them in the garage, and packing up the kitchen. When work didn’t begin, they called the store and were left with little or no answers.

A man “didn’t know how many jobs they had,” Frances said. “We asked, ‘How many work crews do you have?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ He didn’t know anything and worked for this company.”

The couple decided to go to Burlington, where they have family, and discovered that the business was closed.

T.W. DUNNING of Salisbury said he has no flooring and no electricity in his kitchen and that he’s one of hundreds the company has “done this to.”

“It’s done,” he said. “There is nothing we can do but go along with the system. … We’ll hurry up and wait like everyone else.”

Several other customers, who did not wish to give their names, told stories of incomplete kitchens, unreturned phone calls and feelings of being stuck without options.

Attempts to reach the owner, Tyler Sheets, by the office phone and by numbers provided by customers were unsuccessful.

THERE ARE NO current construction permits in Burlington for the company and only one since the business opened in 2010. The company was also current with its taxes in Alamance County.

There are 80 permits listed with the city of Greensboro, though an assistant said she couldn’t say how many are open or have been closed. There are 24 open construction permits in Winston-Salem and an undetermined number in Raleigh.

The doors to the office at 2516 Tucker St. were padlocked, and several construction vans were parked in the parking lot. According to the Better Business Bureau, the company had an estimated 72 employees.

“At this time, we are focusing on finishing up our existing kitchens,” according to American Kitchen’s website. “We are not available to give estimates for additional work.”

It asked current customers to contact the company via a customer service email.

THE BBB HAS received 16 complaints regarding American Kitchen from June 12 to June 20, according to an alert issued Friday.

“Complaints received by BBB indicate a pattern of complaints whereby consumers paid large percentages of their contracted price towards the completion of a kitchen remodel and are left with significantly incomplete work,” according to the alert.

The BBB is working to determine whether the company has closed for good with plans to file for bankruptcy, or “if they plan to restructure and reopen to complete pending contracts.”

THE BURLINGTON company received its BBB rating last fall after three years of being in business, BBB Dispute Resolution Specialist Michael Henson said. American Kitchen was forced to wait three years because of its affiliation with the now defunct Kitchen Carolina.

“Sheets started American Kitchen as a separate entity and sought accreditation at that time,” Henson said. “Due to his connection with Kitchen America, he had to establish a three-year track record. He ultimately demonstrated the company’s ability to resolve disputes as they arose, and we allowed accreditation in the fall of 2013.”

The company received about a dozen complaints during that three-year time, Henson said, but added it was normal for a business of its size.

“We will keep trying to work with customers and encouraging them that if they have a dispute to continue to file complaints with our office,” he said.

Complaints can be filed at www.bbb.org/complaints.

THE CONSUMER Protection Division also is investigating American Kitchen after receiving at least five complaints last week, said Public Information Officer Noelle Talley.

“We had gotten a few complaints previously about American Kitchen, but most of those were resolved,” she wrote in an email. “We’re also looking into a connection between American Kitchen and Kitchen Carolina, a firm that we had complaints against a few years ago for similar problems. Kitchen Carolina also shut down unexpectedly, but eventually we were able to get them to resolve most of the complaints we had from consumers.”

Any consumers who paid American Kitchen for work that has not been completed are encouraged to file a complaint online at www.ncdoj.gov and 877-5-NO-SCAM.

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A Burlington kitchen remodeling company has reportedly left dozens across the Triangle and Triad high and dry.

American Kitchen Corp. closed last week, prompting an investigation by the N.C. Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division and the Better Business Bureau, and many customers are reporting unfinished kitchens despite paying the Burlington business upfront.

PAUL AND FRANCES Tausch first heard about American Kitchen when they received an advertisement in the mail in March.

“We checked them out,” Paul said. “The BBB had given them a good rating, (and) I didn’t see any complaints at the time. We decided we would have them give us an estimate.”

The Wake Forest couple met with company representatives and an engineer, and ultimately paid them a little more than $12,000 to get the business started on a remodeled kitchen, he said.

Every time the couple wanted to check on a price or look at the competition, American Kitchen was able to offer a sale or additional discount, they said.

“We were always the ones contacting them,” Frances said. “We never heard from them. We were always the ones initiating the conversation.”

They were told work would begin tentatively at the end of May, and the couple began removing some of the cabinets, hoping to use them in the garage, and packing up the kitchen. When work didn’t begin, they called the store and were left with little or no answers.

A man “didn’t know how many jobs they had,” Frances said. “We asked, ‘How many work crews do you have?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ He didn’t know anything and worked for this company.”

The couple decided to go to Burlington, where they have family, and discovered that the business was closed.

T.W. DUNNING of Salisbury said he has no flooring and no electricity in his kitchen and that he’s one of hundreds the company has “done this to.”

“It’s done,” he said. “There is nothing we can do but go along with the system. … We’ll hurry up and wait like everyone else.”

Several other customers, who did not wish to give their names, told stories of incomplete kitchens, unreturned phone calls and feelings of being stuck without options.

Attempts to reach the owner, Tyler Sheets, by the office phone and by numbers provided by customers were unsuccessful.

THERE ARE NO current construction permits in Burlington for the company and only one since the business opened in 2010. The company was also current with its taxes in Alamance County.

There are 80 permits listed with the city of Greensboro, though an assistant said she couldn’t say how many are open or have been closed. There are 24 open construction permits in Winston-Salem and an undetermined number in Raleigh.

The doors to the office at 2516 Tucker St. were padlocked, and several construction vans were parked in the parking lot. According to the Better Business Bureau, the company had an estimated 72 employees.

“At this time, we are focusing on finishing up our existing kitchens,” according to American Kitchen’s website. “We are not available to give estimates for additional work.”

It asked current customers to contact the company via a customer service email.

THE BBB HAS received 16 complaints regarding American Kitchen from June 12 to June 20, according to an alert issued Friday.

“Complaints received by BBB indicate a pattern of complaints whereby consumers paid large percentages of their contracted price towards the completion of a kitchen remodel and are left with significantly incomplete work,” according to the alert.

The BBB is working to determine whether the company has closed for good with plans to file for bankruptcy, or “if they plan to restructure and reopen to complete pending contracts.”

THE BURLINGTON company received its BBB rating last fall after three years of being in business, BBB Dispute Resolution Specialist Michael Henson said. American Kitchen was forced to wait three years because of its affiliation with the now defunct Kitchen Carolina.

“Sheets started American Kitchen as a separate entity and sought accreditation at that time,” Henson said. “Due to his connection with Kitchen America, he had to establish a three-year track record. He ultimately demonstrated the company’s ability to resolve disputes as they arose, and we allowed accreditation in the fall of 2013.”

The company received about a dozen complaints during that three-year time, Henson said, but added it was normal for a business of its size.

“We will keep trying to work with customers and encouraging them that if they have a dispute to continue to file complaints with our office,” he said.

Complaints can be filed at www.bbb.org/complaints.

THE CONSUMER Protection Division also is investigating American Kitchen after receiving at least five complaints last week, said Public Information Officer Noelle Talley.

“We had gotten a few complaints previously about American Kitchen, but most of those were resolved,” she wrote in an email. “We’re also looking into a connection between American Kitchen and Kitchen Carolina, a firm that we had complaints against a few years ago for similar problems. Kitchen Carolina also shut down unexpectedly, but eventually we were able to get them to resolve most of the complaints we had from consumers.”

Any consumers who paid American Kitchen for work that has not been completed are encouraged to file a complaint online at www.ncdoj.gov and 877-5-NO-SCAM.